Iron Butterfly Ping

• Character Name: Iron Butterfly Ping
• Gender: Female
• Age: 18 years
• Height: 5’6”
• Weight: 130 lbs.

Aspects

• High Concept: The Bandit Lord’s Run-Away Daughter
• Trouble: Always Sees the Best in People--Even When It Isn’t There
• Searching for Heroism
• Emerald Feather the Parrot

Skills

• +4: Stealth
• +3: Fighting, Notice
• +2: Athletics, Burglary, Will
• +1: Chi, Physique, Rapport, Shoot

Kung Fu

• Jianghu Rank: 1
• Kung Fu Style: Lightning Crane

Techniques

• Crane Sleeps Standing: +2 bonus when Overcoming physical obstacles based on physical obstruction or poor footing.
• Lightning Crosses the Sky: When you succeed with style on a Fight attack, you may move 1 zone in addition to gaining a boost. If someone or something tries to stop this movement, gain a +2 to rolls to overcome.
• Lightning Strikes Without Pause: Gain a +2 bonus to Notice (or other skill) used when determining turn order.

Stunts

• Emerald Spy: +2 to Notice, even when Iron Butterfly isn’t in the scene. Emerald Feather can act as a spy for Iron Butterfly and report back, using his limited vocabulary.
• Forest Child: +2 to Stealth in the wilderness. Iron Butterfly was trained in stealth in the woods and is particularly adept at using it in non-urban conditions.
• Iron Butterfly: Add +2 Weapon Rating to Fight attacks made when using twin war fans, the weapons in which Iron Butterfly specializes and from which she has taken her name.

Extras

• Physical Stress: 3
• Mental Stress: 3
• Refresh: 2
• Fate Points: 3

Appearance

Iron Butterfly Ping is an unassuming young woman of slight build. She wears her hair and dresses fashionably, at least as much as someone of her station can afford. She is careful, however, to make sure her fashionable clothes will let her move freely, whether in a fight or sneaking around. She also avoids items, such as flashy or noisy jewelry that might expose her.

History

Iron Butterfly Ping is the daughter of the notorious bandit lord Iron Lung Ping, so named for his great shout, which strikes fear in his enemies. Iron Lung is a ruthless bandit, but he was also a doting father who wanted his daughter to think well of him. He gave her a great deal of training in both kung fu and the arts of banditry, while telling her legends of social bandits who stole from the corrupt rich and gave to the down-trodden poor, always letting her think that he and his men were such social bandits. Thus, despite growing up in a bandit camp, Iron Butterfly managed to remain fairly naïve. When she came of age, her mother, Bao Lubin decided to disabuse her of these ideas. Lubin was born in a noble family, but had been kidnapped and forcibly wedded by Iron Lung after he attacked her caravan. At first, her family sought her ransom--but when her conservative relatives learned she was no longer a maiden, they considered her dishonored and left her in Iron Lung’s hands. Lubin made the best of her situation, setting up the bandit camp as a sort of court over which she and her husband lorded it over--but Lubin never forgave and always secretly hated her husband. One day, when Iron Butterfly was prattling her father’s praises and Lubin knew that Iron Lung had in fact just done some particularly brutal deeds, Lubin decided to disabuse her daughter of her illusions. She told Iron Butterfly the truth and, as proof, lead her by stealth to see Iron Lung and his men torturing captives, not simply for information but sadistic pleasure. Horrified, Iron Butterfly decided to flee. She was determined to go out and find real heroes who could replace her father as people to emulate--and to become a hero herself, eventually returning to redeem her father from his evil ways.

Aspect Explanations

• High Concept: The Bandit Lord’s Run-Away Daughter: Iron Butterfly grew up in a bandit camp and learned many skills related to stealth, fighting, observation, etc. from her father and his men. Now that she has fled, she continues to use them for her own purposes. Growing up in a bandit camp, especially given the way Iron Lung tried to shelter her from the realities of his trade, she is somewhat naïve about the world. There are also quite a number of people who might be trying to track her down--her father’s men, to bring her home; her father’s enemies, for revenge or to use her as a hostage.

• Trouble: Always Sees the Best in People--Even When It Isn’t There: Despite what she’s learned, Iron Butterfly can’t in her heart believe that Iron Lung is a truly brutal man. She sees him as someone who once really was a social bandit and has lost his way and who could, with help, become the hero he always claimed he was to her--and Iron Butterfly hopes that someday she can go back and redeem her father. She tends to extend this optimistic outlook to others as well. Sometimes it does bring out the best in people, but sometimes it means she badly misjudges them.

• Searching for Heroism: Distraught to learn that Iron Lung was not the hero she idolized him to be, Iron Butterfly is searching for a real hero, hoping to become his or her student--or at least find someone she can look up to. She also wishes to become a hero herself. This means she’s going to go the extra mile to help others, but that she’s prone to placing herself in danger as well--sometimes needless danger for the sake of proving herself.

• Emerald Feather the Parrot: Iron Butterfly has a faithful parrot companion, Emerald Feather. He is a bit more than a pet, since, like many parrots, he is highly intelligent and has a limited vocabulary he can use to communicate with others. Thus, Iron Butterfly sometimes uses him as a messenger or spy. Unfortunately, Emerald Feather also has a somewhat churlish sense of humor and is a bit overconfident--meaning he sometimes leaves himself open to attacks after insulting people.